General Discussion

I been back on DD for two weeks now and am still catching up on old news. It seems that nearly the day after I left, Platinum Studios reamed out the Duck with a size thirteen boot. Whammo! Or so I am given to understand.

Okaaaaay . . . as a returned DDer, who missed out on the changes and the ensuing drama, I have to admit that while I definitely find the main page alterations disturbing, the account mechanics seem to be running smoother now. For instance, I've had no problems at all changing a posted page WITHOUT losing all my comments. That's a huge change for the better. In addition, today I added a forum banner and a title page banner and even swapped out my avatar image and all with nary a bobble in the process. Cool beans!

The forums? Hmmm . . . still the same sorts of cool people more than willing to show kindness and courtesy to a fellow poster and artist. It simply doesn't get any better than that.

Negative changes? Yeah, about those negatives . . . Platinum Studio really screwed up by eliminating the administrative commentary on featured strips and comics. WHY should I open up what may not be a terribly appealing title page and give the strip or comic a try? what if one really needs a bit of an explanation to make the featured item make sense? Bah! Readers are left entirely on their own and as a result . . . well, I would be surprised if featured items are getting the same sort of hits now, that they were enjoying under the old system. Oh . . . and as for the news . . . yeah, sure it's there on the side if you want to click on it but, again, WHY would you want to? Frankly, it should be in your face, like in the old days.

I know, I KNOW, that all this must have endlessly been discussed in these forums. I'm not saying anything new here. I'm just relaying what a returning user thinks about these changes after two weeks of relearning how to be a DDer.

I was shocked by the main page changes and I don't really like them, but I can live with them. Really, though, Platinum Studios should see their way to reinstating the admin comments and make the news feature a dominant part of the system again.

If I wasn't so lazy, I'd look up those old forum thread links to show you the complaints, suggestions, and overreactions. ;)

Unfortunately, those complaints/suggestions remain unaddressed and probably will remain so (imo, but I think that is a fairly reasonable view) – but the admins have worked around this flaw by posting those descriptions in that thingy on the right (with the news updates).

Actually, you missed out on the really nasty new bugs generated by the server switch (which is what fixed the image glitch… which was a good time after the remodel). The coders got *most* of those fixed.

I remember disliking all of DD's various layouts before it disappeared and reappeared after a long time to look as it does now… (I also remember its web design contest, which I didn't enter but people I knew did, and I didn't like what happened to it after that either, lol). But DD's front page now, as opposed to how it was long, long ago, is a ton better. You had to have a serious case of ADHD to enjoy it back then.

I don't know all the little ins and outs, though, since I never posted on the forums until last week and never paid attention to the news, lol. And I probably never will know.

Yikes! For Used Books, it sounds like it was a scene of carnage. I'm glad to have missed out on those excitement filled days.

My honest thoughts is that this seems like the same old user friendly DrunkDuck that I recall. Well . . . I have noticed that there are not as many exciting contests and what not, but then that's probably because many of the old personalities that were always involved in such things have moved on. I'm just guessing here, and I may be viewing the past through rose colored glasses in that one respect.

For Senshuu, we all filter things through our unique perspectives. Yes, I preferred the old DD front page layout to what we have today. To each his, or her, own.

CharleyHorseMy honest thoughts is that this seems like the same old user friendly DrunkDuck that I recall. Well . . . I have noticed that there are not as many exciting contests and what not, but then that's probably because many of the old personalities that were always involved in such things have moved on. I'm just guessing here, and I may be viewing the past through rose colored glasses in that one respect.

I dunno. Some of the fun community projects ended but there have been others. The DD Awards were fun. And the Secret Santa is HUGE this year (80 people!!) Contests are very “in the moment” things, so you can't really step in and expect a bunch of things all at once.

I miss some of the previously active threads in the Art forum though. Like the fan art trade and that monthly art contest thing. It wouldn't be too hard to revive either of those – if there is interest. (Maybe after the holidays.)

Oh yeah, and CharleyHorse, I do remember liking ONE of DD's past layouts. It was all dark blue with yellow text or something like that. That was pretty nice actually. I think that was the one before it disappeared. D:

As to community changes, I don't know much about how it was before, but surely it will come back around eventually! Communities do that sometimes.

It was. DD was already very buggy but it became much worse. For some time it was almost impossible to stay logged in for more than a few minutes at a time. I'm sure a lot of potential new comics and readers decided not to come here as a result of their experiences over that period. Plus, when they made the server change, they didn't bother to tell anyone in advance and and so the whole site seemed to have imploded for about three days!

Having said that, everything seems sweetness and light now. There will always be gripes about any changes to the design and layout (personally, I thought the previous layout had some pretty big flaws, too!) but, as far as I can see, all the bugs seem to have been resolved and - for me - that's what really counts. The admin commentary on featured comics may have gone from the front page but it is given in the news column to the right of the screen, and that's available whichever page you're on (except actual comic pages, obviously).

The current situation is not perfect and no set-up is ever going to please everybody but, overall, I actually think DD is better now than it was even pre-Platinum.

CharleyHorseI would be surprised if featured items are getting the same sort of hits now, that they were enjoying under the old system.

They're not. On average, there's been a significant drop. Main page hits are up since then, so the only reason the features would be down is that people aren't clicking on them. The quality of the comics hasn't changed, just the missing admin description. We've lobbied Plat for it (and will continue to do so) but they don't really care what we want most of the time. We wanted the news back on the main page too, and they basically refuse to do it. The compromise was that they made the ‘news update’ area on the right always expanded, so people could see if there was a new one, and had that rollover preview added.

On the surface things run more or less smoothly now at DD, which is fine for most people (and Platinum's needs). Things were bad for a while (a LONG while, with some problems) and there were a lot of upset people. So, it's good that most people are satisfied again. I can tell you as an admin though there are a lot of things under the surface that need attention and we know that Platinum is going to ingore unless something goes catastrophically wrong. In a way, I kind of want those disasters to happen because then we admins would get some of what we want, but of course disasters are bad :)

Ohh, I always wondered what those severe site hiccups (the not being able to log in, comics suddenly having “no pages”`) were all about. Wow. (And yet I didn't read into it. Perhaps for the same reason I don't read into why Online Comics is down half the time now - it doesn't get me anywhere.)

skoolmunkeeI can tell you as an admin though there are a lot of things under the surface that need attention and we know that Platinum is going to ingore unless something goes catastrophically wrong. In a way, I kind of want those disasters to happen because then we admins would get some of what we want, but of course disasters are bad

I understand. If you didn't care about the DD then you would be able to ignore looming dead falls. It's the bureaucratic nature of companies, however, that they ignore problems until they become disasters. They are reactive rather than proactive because care-taking costs money rather than elevates profits . . . or so non-caregiver types are wont to believe. The truth of the matter is, of course, that coming as close to creating a flawless system as possible directly impacts profits in a positive way. People see that a company cares and so they flock towards that company and income accumulates. Unfortunately it is a perspective that remains alien to most bean counter types and petty bureaucrats. This is why they and caretaker artistic types seldom get along.

I've found that a carefully worded proposal sent over the heads of mid-level functionaries usually results in action of some sort. Sometimes it's not the actions one desired, but it does tend to draw attention one way or the other.

I was a bit put off at first when I returned from my own brief hiatus (during which I missed the turn over to the new home page layout ect…for which I am thankful) to discover the home page had changed in a significant, and to my way of thinking, less intuitive format.Turns out this was simply my being unfamiliar with it. Now that I am up and running with it, I really like it! Quail's Random gives books that are languishing away in obscurity some seriously needed facetime now and again. I am often surprized to find a really memorable book many times when I visit them which I might not have done!About the only thing I miss is the Insufferably likeable Marine and the hideously gauche Penis…which used to be here all the time. I kinda miss his “In your Faceness”–but that isn't a DD layout issue at all…

Yes indeedy ipokino, Marine was a hoot. We are on the same page regarding Quail's Randoms. I enjoy seeing what else will appear with each tap of the refresh icon. I have found some wonderful stuff that way.